Field of the Invention
Technology of electrical superconductors.
Recently, the materials which have superconducting properties, have been acquiring increasing importance. The discovery of new superconducting materials, in particular of the rare earths/Ba/Cu/O type, led to an appreciable extension of the possible applications for superconductors since these substances become superconducting even at temperatures above 50K.
The invention relates to the further development and improvement of components composed of a ceramic high-temperature superconductor in wire form, it being intended to take the requirements of industrial large-scale production into consideration.
In particular, it relates to a process for producing a sheathed wire or a multiple-filament conductor composed of a ceramic high-temperature superconductor based on a ceramic substance of the REBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.6.5+y type, where RE denotes a rare earth metal and O&lt;y&lt;1, and the said substance is arranged as a core in a copper sheath which serves as mechanical support and standby-current conductor by loading the pulverulent starting materials, which are mixed in an approximately stoichiometric ratio and are composed of rare earth metal oxide, barium-oxygen compound and copper oxide (CuO) or the finished superconductor powder, into a metal tube and subjecting the whole to a hot and/or cold-working process by compressing, rolling, rotary swaging and drawing for the purpose of fabrication, and finally, exposing it to a heat treatment.